


bonded wind

by works of yesterday (DreamyRequiem)



Series: dreamy's completed works [3]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, ambiguous on romantic or platonic relationship kk?, it can....be either as u wish, last 2 chapters written this year, weird drabble thing I started and forgot about back in early 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:40:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22177207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamyRequiem/pseuds/works%20of%20yesterday
Summary: A swirl of white marks his ankle:  Sonic has never given it much thought, except when Tails brings it up. If he meets this soulmate, he'll welcome them with open arms. If he doesn't?Well, it's too bad, but Sonic can live with that.----Shadow never wants to meet his soulmate. They will only ever disappointed by him and the fact that he's only a monster in mobian skin.
Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog & Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog
Series: dreamy's completed works [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1468534
Comments: 1
Kudos: 213





	1. shadow I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unbeta`d
> 
> originally written in 2018; never posted.

Shadow doesn't know what to make of the white swirl on his left ankle. At first, he keeps it to himself: It's likely the Professor and the other researchers already knew of its existence. So what was the point in bringing attention to it? It was just a blemish on his dark fur after all.

It is only after he meets Maria that he finds out what it might actually be. She tells him stories about Gaia, and how down there, people have soulmates. Not everyone, of course, perhaps only 50% of the entire population of Gaia. It is even more common among Mobians--which Shadow apparently is a Hedgehog Mobian.

At first he wonders what other mobians are like. There aren't any others on the ARK and he quickly learns that is because of some silly cold war between humans and mobians. Well, Maria calls it silly and the researchers don't seem to care much either.

Only the GUN members on the ARK seem to really care about it.

Shadow hopes that when he and Maria go down to Gaia, they can meet some mobians. But regardless of his first thoughts, his wondering about other mobians, his thoughts return to the concept of soulmates.

Maria admits to him that she doesn't have one and is somewhat thankful for it--with her illness, she felt she would only be a burden for her soulmate. Shadow instinctively scolds his pseudo sister, shocked she would say that. She laughs and pokes his nose while saying that he is the sweetest.

It is at his request that she gets him a book on soulmates. It has even more information than Maria had given him--and it has the most important information of all: How to tell you have a soulmate and who they are.

Sometimes, it's a colorless mark on fur or skin, waiting for the meeting between the two for the color to be restored. Shadow thinks of the mark on his ankle and he finally tells the Professor.

Shadow is pretty sure he shocked the human to the point of almost having a heart attack.

He's not sure why at first, not until the Professor's explanation. "You were created here, on the ARK," He says, shocked and delighted, "To know you have a soulmate...well, can anyone say you don't have a soul? After all, if you have a soulmate, you must have a soul."

Oh. He'd forgotten that some of the ARK thought of him as a robot--an android. It is easy to forget because he's always with Maria or the Professor--and both of them never say him as anything besides a living being.

Shadow files the fact that he has a soulmate away somewhere inside: It is just another reason for him to help heal Maria as soon as he can, so that they can both meet the person he's been tied to.

He never really thinks that Maria will never meet them.

* * *

GUN borderline tortures Shadow in the guise of training. At first, he wants to believe that they only have his and everyone’s best interests at heart. That is their job, right? To protect everyone they can?

Except the day comes where they shove someone into the room and tell him to kill them.

Shadow stares at the instructors and then at the person they had brought. And then he asks them something he hadn't dared until then: "Why?"

He quickly learns never to ask that question again, because GUN is nothing like the Professor. He never hurts Shadow for his questions, encourages him even. To be hurt for a simple question, to just ask why he had to kill--it was enough to make him want to scream and throw punches.

And in the end, his question and refusal does nothing for the person they brought. After they hurt him, they shoot the person and Shadow realizes he never saw their face, because there was always a bag over their face.

Shouldn’t he remember the faces of those that died?

He doesn't get to think too hard about philosophy for a long time, as GUN puts him through the wringer once more. They even set the Artificial Chaos on him, as if that would motivate him more. It just exhausts him further, instead, leaving him to wonder when he'll be free.

The answer to that is: Never. He'll never be free of GUN, even after they tear apart his fragile life with Maria and the Professor on ARK, even as they murder Maria before his eyes.

But that? That is all long after Shadow bloodies his hands on one of the many prisoners GUN brings to him. They press a gun to his hand and make him aim and tell him to fire. Shadow hesitates and then closes his eyes as tight as he can so he doesn't have to look as body hits the floor.

Shadow can't look at his hands, after that.

* * *

The day that GUN comes for them, Shadow asks Maria if his soulmate would be okay with him being a monster. She looks like he had hit her with his question, slapped her with it, and he wants to retract it so she'll stop looking like that. Shadow doesn't want to see her in pain like this because of him.

But before he can excuse his question, she says, "Shadow, you're not a monster. A monster hurts people because they like to hurt people--you've never hurt anyone because of that!"

Her faith in him burns him, because she doesn't know. She doesn't know the people he's killed, just because GUN told him to. Just because he wanted to stop hurting. Shadow can't bear to see the look in her eyes, if he told her that.

(But here is the thing: Maria is well aware of what GUN has done to her brother. She knows that they have turned him into a killer against his will and that he is numb to it now. But to her, he is still not a monster because he is killing to survive: Monsters kill for joy.)

Maria just smiles at him though and holds his hands. He wants to pull away so he doesn't stain her too--and stops when, for just a moment, he sees her blue dress soaked through with red, dark blood. His hearts stops for only a second but that is enough.

And then the alarms blare in their ears and he's up and running with her. Away, somewhere. He's not sure, not until he sees GUN soldiers mowing down researchers in one of the labs. Shadow just stares and thinks _we need to get out of here._

His sister's sob shakes him from his horrified pause and he drags her along: They need to escape. He had only been to the escape pod room once, when the Professor had been showing him important places on the ARK. The escape pods are probably their only chance at surviving this madness.

Except soldiers find them as they run, shooting at their backs as they turn into the closed corridors of the final stretch. The bullets only graze them, leaving small cuts that well up with blood. Shadow grimaces and ignores the pain and pulls his sister into the chamber, slamming the door's lock button as hard as he can.

Maria insists on setting up the escape pods so Shadow lets her: If it makes her feel better before they can escape--before they might be separated by the fall--then he will do anything.

He waits on his pad as she finishes inputting data into the console. Shadow hears it before it happens: The door blasting open and soldiers surging in. Or just one--His memory is muddled, of how many there were and weren't.

What isn't muddled is the spot of red blooming along Maria's side, stark against her blue dress. She pleads with as she uses the last of her strength to pull the lever.

Shadow can't remember what she asked him to do.

* * *

He manages to keep himself out of GUN's grip for a week before they catch him. It's purely by accident, because he walks right into a patrol. How stupid, he tells himself after he's wrapped up in chains and handcuffs, to walk right into the very people he's trying to stay away from.

They leave him, temporarily, in the same cell as the Professor. He looks tired and torn apart, like GUN had run him from the same wringer Shadow had been for months now. Shadow is seized by the urge to hug the human but he resists--he doubts the man would want to be hugged by the thing that let his granddaughter die.

Yet the Professor leans forward and hugs him tightly. He whispers to Shadow: "I am so glad you are alive. Now--now, we might be able to get revenge for Maria."

Revenge? That...doesn't sound right. But Maria is dead, she cannot correct either of them, even as Shadow's memory tries to fix itself around this new concept. If she could, her ghost would be screaming at them both, shaking them to try and stop them from the plan that they're creating.

Destroying the planet, ensuring they feel the same despair Maria surely felt as she died...The Professor assures him of that and Shadow's memories of the escape are so muddled that he just accepts it. It must be true, if the Professor was saying it.

After all, he used to love humanity.

The Professor is executed after they finalize the plans. Shadow is forced to watch before they lead him away to what he assumes will be his own death, his own execution. Instead they lead him to a frozen coffin and tell him to get in. Or they'd _make_ him.

Used to the threats, he complies, slipping into the cold coffin with ease. Maybe they'll kill him here and study his remains--that sounds just like GUN, to Shadow.

They don't. They freeze him in the icy grave and Shadow loses his track of time. H blinks and the world is white, cold, and nothing and he feels nothing at all. Not even the cold that should be nipping at him.

He dreams of Maria, the Professor, and his unknown soulmate in a world where GUN didn't kill all he cared for.


	2. sonic I

Sonic is born to loud fanfare.

At first it's only because the small clan finally has a new member, a child to protect, and then it is because Chaos blesses the newborn child with a soulmate. The colorless fur on his ankle shines in the light and Sonic's mother says that whoever they are, they must be as pure as Sonic's heart is.

After all, why would Chaos bind the soul of a tiny thing like Sonic with a monster?

He isn't told what soulmate mark is by his parents, however. Six years old, happy and go lucky, Sonic loses his family. Robots sweep in overhead and the next thing Sonic knows, he's hiding in a closet, alone without even his baby siblings with him.

Sonic searches of course, over the islands of southern Mobius. After years of searching the islands, he gives up, because if they're not there then where could they be?

His world is still so small.

It won't stay that way, when Robotnik comes. Because Sonic knows those bots, knows them like a trill of fear in his heart: They're the same ones that had disappeared with his family, his clan. His baby sister and brother.

He is alone now, because of them. But that doesn't mean the people here, Mighty and Ray, have to be alone like him. So Sonic chases after the robots and Robotnik, searching and seeking him out. He refuses to let others suffer as he once did, even if he has moved on.

Sonic finds him and beats him, saving those he had _sworn_ to save. It leaves a bittersweet taste in his mouth because he wishes he had been this strong when his family was taken too.

But he moves on again, chasing after Robotnik. He's done all this before and will do it again: Sonic can't let him do what he was to Sonic to anyone else.

And so the cycle of win and lose begins; Sonic winning and winning and sometimes losing, but always winning in the end. Robotnik is his opposite, losing and losing but sometimes winning, only to lose in the end.

* * *

Tails can't quite keep up with Sonic, but it's better than most others had managed in his life. Better than others had even tried to do. It makes him happy and he feels...nostalgic. Like, even if he can't get his old family back, maybe he can make a new one.

Sonic's okay with that. He has a feeling he would've ended up leaving his family in the end, anyway. An impatient hedgehog, that's what Tails jokingly calls him. It fits very well, as far Sonic is concerned.

But it's from Tails that he learns about soulmates. Or more specifically, about soulmate marks. They're more uncommon, Tails tells him, unlike names or first words. But the marks are more common among mobians than humans, because of the fur thing, so they say.

Granted, there are apparently plenty of humans who wore their soulmate marks like they are badges of honor.

Tails doesn't know anymore than that, but not from a lack of trying. The guy who did a lot of the current research on soulmates had died fifty years ago about and a lot of _that_ research had been lost with him. Tails never fails to groan out loud about the loss of research.

Dork.

It's not until he meets Knuckles, though, that he meets another mobian with a soulmate mark. Colorless marks that look almost like wings are on the echidna's back and Sonic only sees it during their fights: Knuckles seems to guard the marks as well as he can, with just his dreadlock quills.

Sonic wonders what soulmates mean to Echidna. To Tails, they're an interesting subject to research--though that was more just Tails and not foxes as a whole. Knuckles guarded his like it was a weakness others would try to use against him, a precious thing to be protected.

He can't remember what his clan had done, with his mark. Or if they had even known about the mark at all.

Surely, they must have known, right? 

* * *

The first time they go to a human settlement, it's a massive city. Sonic thinks it might be a bad idea, considering how many people were wandering the streets. Even more, he's not sure how many of these people had even seen a mobian before. What if they thought they were like, giant rats or something?

Sonic has had enough of people calling him a rat to last a life time, thanks.

But they need to go because a part Tails desperately needs for the Tornado is only found in Station Square. Sonic sighs and agrees, privately hoping that they at least take rings. If they didn't, they'd be in trouble.

They did, actually, take rings. Sonic is surprised, but not terribly so and not enough to get any attention from Tails. The fox kit is just happy to finally finish his upgrade for the Tornado and the parts he needs for a scanner.

"Scanner for what?" Sonic asks.

Tails sighs at him. "To find Eggman, of course! We need to make sure he can't do anything like the Death Egg again..."

Oh, right, Robotnik. Who they had recently dubbed Eggman, as a joke about his egg themed robot names. To say the doctor had been annoyed would be an understatement. Sonic still smiles at the memory.

They find out a year later that the scanner works, but not until Angel Island falls from the sky right off the coast from Mystic Ruins and leaves Knuckles to search for whatever has weakened the Master Emerald.

* * *

Sonic surveys the ruins of Station Square from the top of an old radio tower. The flood water Chaos had brought in had receded back to the sea, leaving the water wastes of the formerly bustling city alone.

He makes a face: If he had known how much damage Chaos could do, he would've worked extra hard to make sure that old Eggy and the ancient water god hadn't been able to get their hands on the emeralds. As it is, Sonic is definitely not letting Eggman get his hands on the emeralds again in the future.

How many people were dead now, because of Eggman's actions? The thought makes Sonic frown, unhappy. Sure, he likes to test himself against Eggman's bots, but the fact is, is that he has killed people now; or is at the very least responsible for it.

What is he supposed to do with that?

There's no way Sonic would be able to kill him, it's just not in his nature. Maybe he could just catch him and hand him over to the human authorities...But then, Eggman had also hurt Mobius and other mobian territories in the past.

Augh, this is too hard! He'll just talk it over with Tails and help his little brother tune up the scanner. Maybe next time it'll catch Eggman before he does anything drastic again like this. Plus, if anyone has an idea, it'd be Tails.

He could also ask Knuckles, but the Guardian is more forgiving than Sonic--which is weird to think. He just...genuinely believes that there is good in others, even others like Eggman who have tricked him before. Sonic thinks that's why he likes being friends with the red echidna.

...Tails first, he decides, then he'll ask Knuckles for some advice too. One of them should have some idea!

Grinning to himself, Sonic looks back down into Station Square. Now that he has a future plan of action, he can focus entirely on helping people here and now. He leaps from the radio tower and rushes down the side: Even if he can't help everyone, he can at least point rescuer workers in the right places.


	3. shadow II

Ivo Robotnik is the one to awaken Shadow.

He is mildly surprised that it is a family member of the Professor's that wakes him up, even as he goes through the script the Professor had given him. Shadow had almost expected it to be some GUN agent centuries in the future, eager for power or trying to prove some sort of point. It is a strange relief that he would be awakened before even a century had passed.

Almost like a miracle.

Shadow internally scoffs at his own thoughts. Miracle? If anyone should've gotten a miracle, it was Maria. And she had received none: Miracles are nothing but people's weakness and wish for a future where they don't have do any work themselves.

Hoping for a miracle is a waste of time. Especially when Shadow already knows what he has to do to get the vengeance for Maria. It just helped that, as it had been less than century, the ARK wouldn't have suffered too much damage to its structure.

Either way, if he wanted to get this Robotnik on board with Shadow's plan, he had to prove his strength. Plus, maybe he'd get to find out why exactly he'd called him 'Sonic'...

* * *

So this Hedgehog is the reason Robotnik called him Sonic? He may bear some physical resemblance, but no more than any Hedgehog Mobian with long back quills would. Amazing, how quickly humans show their ignorance.

Sonic is a fairly strong hedgehog, though, Shadow would give him that. He doubts most hedgehogs would be able to handle a GUN bot like this one has. He still wouldn't hold a candle to Shadow, when they clashed.

Well, that's if the hedgehog escaped GUN.

Once, Shadow would've had pity on him and helped him--no one deserves GUN--but Shadow's plans would be ruined if he let himself fall to his own weakness.

Though...somehow, he feels that Sonic will get out. He's not sure why he's so certain that the other hedgehog will get out, not until he's on Prison Island again and running head first into the blue mobian. He definitely needs to break this habit of running into people he doesn’t want to see.

"You again!" Sonic snaps at him, almost angrier than Shadow thought he'd be. Which...maybe that isn't saying much considering Shadow had expected him to be furious. Sonic seems just at the edge of stomping his feet. "You fake hedgehog! You--Why the heck are you doing all this huh?!"

Shadow couldn't help but scowl. "If anyone here is a fake, it’s you." For some reason he is starting to feel angry now too, as if Sonic's anger is contagious. "And I don't have to answer you."

The blue mobian scowls and points at him. "Then I'll--I'll beat the answer out of you!"

"You can try!" Shadow shoots back and spin dashes from his branch. Sonic punches back and the two struggle across the jungle clearing, clawing and kicking and punching. Shadow eventually kicks Sonic away from him and rolls back to stand up and catch his breath.

It seems Sonic was more than just a strong look-a-like. He can keep up and--that weirdly cheers Shadow up. He'd never had someone to able to keep up with him ever so this is...new. In fact, he feels lighter than he has in what feels in like forever. Shadow can feel himself grinning and Sonic seems to mirror him.

But he's reminded of what's going on as an update comes through his radio and his smile is wiped away.

* * *

Shadow is somewhat annoyed with Rouge. He has a feeling she was the same Rouge from the reports he'd picked up from the Doctor's hacking GUN. He's still not sure why he doesn't just tell the Doctor of what he has found--and why he has hidden it.

But disregarding any of that--He is annoyed. The bat almost got them both killed when she hadn't escaped the vault before it sealed, leaving Shadow to Chaos Control to her. Using Chaos Control without an emerald...is exhausting. If he hadn't gotten his hands on the three emeralds Rouge had found right after, he would've spent himself.

Rouge had gone off as soon as they arrived at the ARK to deposit the emeralds on the console and left Shadow alone.

He's fine with that. It gives him the chance to think about the...strange encounter with Sonic. Shadow doesn't understand why he had started to enjoy himself, fighting that hedgehog. It would be a lie to say he hadn't felt some sort of enjoyment--but it was as if it had been amplified somehow.

Shadow doubts that the hedgehog had any sort of power to do that. Which leaves him with no answers, once more. He scowls at the thought. If there is anything he hates, besides GUN, its being in the dark about something.

Trekking through the ARK, he stops in the outlook, to spy down at the planet below. He and Maria used to stand here together, talking about all sorts of things. Her short time on the planet, his lessons, and their dreams for the future...All of it came back to him in a flash.

He looks down, his teeth clenched at the remembered grief--and then stops, staring at where his colorless fur is. Or where it used to be.

Feeling a strange thrill of fear lash through him, Shadow slides to the ground and unlatches his skate from his foot to peer at his ankle. The colorless fur had been replaced by a cobalt blue, a swirl of color against his black fur. It didn't stand out as sharply as his red patterns but the fact that it was even _there_...

Shadow glares down at the mark. "This doesn't change anything," He tells it, "I am still going to do what I have to, for Maria's sake."

For a moment he can almost see the other hedgehog's judging green eyes and Shadow scowls. Maria is all that Shadow really has, now. Any dreams with a soulmate are gone, along with his chances of freedom.

* * *

Shadow grits his teeth as he hears the alarms go off. Somehow, the Doctor's adversaries had gotten to the ARK. Somehow, they had broken in. And somehow, they are headeing to the emeralds' chamber.

It doesn't help his mood at all that Rouge had finally decided to show her true colors.

"What," He says as he approaches her from behind, "Do you think you're doing?"

The white bat's wings flicker, the only sign of her surprise at his arrival. She turns, leaning on her hand with a cheery grin. "Doing what, Shadow? I can't keep an eye on the chamber, when we're being attacked?"

Shadow narrows his eyes at her. "Stop playing around. I know you're that Rouge the Bat--The GUN _Consultant_." He tilts his head as Rouge crosses her arms, clearly nervous. "If you think you're going to get away with the emeralds, you're wrong. So I suggest you back away."

"Okay, okay~ So harsh, Shadow." Rouge shrugs as she slowly backs away from the console and the tower with the emeralds encrusted in it. When she hits the threshold of the room she turns back. "You know, I have to wonder. Are you sure you're the real Shadow...?"

He scoffs, not bothering to look at her. "If you're referring to the prototype, there's no point. We're different beings, obviously." What is she even trying to do, throw him off? Bringing up Bio as well as and the handful of previous hedgehogs that had died during the project isn't going to affect him. Not the way she wants it to.

Rouge hums. "If you say so. But you know...I think, for your soulmate's sake, maybe you should calm down."

Shadow spins around, snarling, as she disappears into the hall, the door sliding shut behind her. "What do you know?!" He yells at the closed door. "Nothing!"

...Damn it. She still had managed to throw him off, somehow. The mention of the prototype--and perhaps the failed hedgehog predecessors--hadn't bothered him at all, but as soon as she uttered those words...

How did she even find out about the soulmate business? Shadow hasn't breathed a word of it.

Shaken, he clenches his hands as the Doctor's voice filters through a radio. Someone, attacking the cannon proper. Apparently, as Shadow confronted Rouge, he had gotten the final chaos emerald.

 _Good_ , Shadow thinks, _soon I won't have to worry about this soulmate business anymore._

* * *

He stares at Sonic, who stares back.

Shadow feels the bouncing anxiety, excitement, and challenge--the bouncing feedback loop between them. No wonder he had ended up grinning in enjoyment with his last fight with Sonic: A feedback loop like this, Shadow will be glad to be rid of it.

Granted, if this plan goes through as he hopes, Shadow isn't going to be feeling anything at all, being dead. Something flashes across Sonic's face before the blue hedgehog smirks at him as he begins to walk towards the cannon. "Hey there, faker! Nice to see you've finally caught up!"

"Only because you're so slow." Shadow scoffs. "Though I do wonder how you managed to survive, considering you were sent off into space. Perhaps there's more to you than meets the eye." There has to be, for him to be Shadow's soulmate.

Sonic grins as his pace quickens. "Naw, I'm just simple guy who likes adventuring and running! Maybe you should take a load off, take a break from all this world destroying stuff and take a look on the other side! You might like what you find."

...Does he know? Shadow sure as _hell_ hopes the other hedgehog hasn't realized what's been forced between them--the soul bond between soulmates.

Shadow pushes that train of thought away. "Well, count your adventuring days over, hedgehog." They are sprinting now, their gazes stuck on each other as they finally broke out of the tunnel. As loose asteroids whizzed overhead, Shadow breaks eye contact first, his feet swerving to push him towards the string of rings ahead of them.

This is it, he thinks, the final stretch. Once this is over, he can finally say goodbye to Maria with his final breaths.

He wonders what she'll say, if he sees her again. If that's even actually possible.


	4. sonic II

When GUN arrests him, Sonic thinks it's just because of the whole debacle with Chaos. Maybe some sort of interview thing--though why they'd need cuffs for that he had no idea. It's only after he hears some of the soldiers mention him attacking a GUN base that Sonic decides to break free. It's way too easy to knock the soldiers out and break out of the helicopter. Sonic always wanted to try free falling.

Looks like he'd get that chance, finally.

Grinning to himself, Sonic flips off the helicopter’s wing and falls down to the city below. He ignores the people on the streets, bustling back into their homes at the sight of him. Wow, rude! He just saved Station Square yet everyone is already turning on him? Oh well. He'd fix all this after he figures out why GUN is out for his head.

On the bright side, grind boarding down a hill is pretty darn fun! Not as fun as actually grinding and running, though. In the end he ditches the metal sheet in favor of running. More than once he ends up spin dashing a couple of GUN bots floating around Station Square. All of them seem to be targeting him specifically which is...a little surprising. Where was this sort of initiative during the rescue efforts after Chaos' attack?

Puffing, he takes down each of the GUN bots with expert ease. They’re not too strong in comparison to the bots Eggman loved to send after him and his friends. No wonder they lost all the time! They need to step up their game.

...Well, after Sonic clears his name, anyway.

The chase goes on well into the night, when Sonic finally loses any patience he has as GUN runs him in circles around Station Square. He's just going to go straight through! Enough of all this running around stuff--Being chased is no fun at all!

His fight is over in short order, barely taking any time at all to take out the flying bot. Sure, it might be invisible while flying but as soon as it lands? A sitting duck! They might as well call it that instead of ‘Flying Dog’ or whatever.

It's then when he meets Shadow.

* * *

Sonic spends a lot of time staring at his ankle in Prison Island’s interior. The familiar colorless fur had darkened to red and black swirls--leaving no room to mistaken what and who it refers to.

He makes a face: Why had he been tied to a guy like that? Sure, he has never really put that much importance to the whole soulmate thing beyond curiosity but knowing he is tied to a guy who is not only wanted by GUN but is also working with Eggman?

Thanks, Universe.

Maybe it's a similar situation like with Knuckles? The Guardian had been tricked into working with Eggman like twice now. Maybe this guy--What's his name again? S-something--had also been tricked? That'd be nice, if only because then he could talk him out of working with Eggman.

Well, maybe not talk...Some fists and spin dashes might end up being involved pretty heavily, especially if he was anything like Knuckles. Either way, if he could get that guy on their side, they might be able to work out the issues with GUN and take out Eggman. Again.

Yawning to himself, he finally leans back. He's glad he's finally come up with a plan of action--now he just has to wait for the perfect moment to escape.

Which, as luck would have it, pops up with the sight of Amy Rose and a key card. He isn't sure he really wants to know how she got it.

And luck is surely on his side as Amy tells him that the very same hedgehog he'd been trying to find is there on the island with them. Clicking his tongue, he tells her to go and join Tails so they can get out of there. He's gonna track down that hedgehog!

* * *

It's pretty obvious that the other hedgehog has no idea that they're soulmates or whatever. It's really too bad--can't use that card to get him to listen to him. Not that...Sonic is entirely sure he would've listened if he had. He may be like Sonic in that while soulmates are important, you can't put everything, your hopes and dreams, your fears and nightmares, on them.

Of course, Sonic is oddly having a bit of a hard time not doing that, considering the weird 'having-a-good-time' feedback loop he's having with the dark hedgehog. Sonic kinda wishes he'd looked up more about how soulmates work, now.

Sonic puffs to himself. It's not all that different from fighting Knuckles except--well, the hedgehog isn't as much of a heavy hitter. So maybe its way different. Granted, he doesn't have to be a heavy hitter like Knuckles. His strength is definitely better than Sonic's and combined with the momentum from his almost equal to Sonic speed...It'd do a lot more damage.

Their fight is broken up before it can get that serious though; Eggman's voice buzzing out from the wrist radio the dark hedgehog had. "Shadow! The bomb will be going off soon--I'm leaving! I'll see you on the ARK!"

Oh! Shadow is his name, that's right--wait. "Bomb?!" Sonic squawks. "Tails! Amy! I need to get them off here!" Without looking back, he speeds away. He can try 'talking' it out with Shadow another time, when they aren't all about to die in a massive explosion.

* * *

The trip up to the ARK is...interesting. Knuckles almost gets them killed trying to get to the Master Emerald. Sonic isn't too miffed about it--he just wishes Knuckles would've waited for more than a couple seconds to go after the emerald. Well, that and not crash them into the ARK.

It's after they get up to the ARK proper that things start going truly south. First, they get cornered by Eggman and Sonic gets trapped in a capsule. That's not too strange a thing to happen, in all honesty. It's the fact that Eggman manages to actually trick Tails into admitting the emerald with Sonic is a fake that really surprises Sonic. Tails usually knows better.

Sonic dismisses it as this being kind of stressful compared to their usual adventures. After all, Eggman usually only threatens to take over the world, not destroy it. This is sort of a first, even if the previous schemes could've ended up the same.

It is also the first time a part of their world had been permanently damaged. Man, does he hope the tides don't suffer too much...

And then he's shot into space, with the clear intent of killing him. Sonic reacts almost on instinct, grabbing the fake emerald and bringing it up to his eyes. If Shadow can use that than so can he, right? He closed his eyes and nodded: Either he did it and lived or didn't and died.

"Chaos! Control!" Sonic yells, wondering how this worked--and then he feels like he is being pulled through a long tube. It definitely isn't comfortable and he wonders how in chaos' name Shadow could do that for all of their fights--unless of course he's doing it wrong and that's why he feels like his insides are being squashed by Amy's hammer.

It feels like an eternity but it's over in seconds, with him on the floor somewhere inside ARK. He cheers weakly to himself over not dying as Knuckles arrives, the echidna startled by Sonic's appearance.

Sonic grins at Knuckles, tired. "I think it's time to do some interior remodeling, starting with that cannon. What do you say, Knux?"

"Good luck." Knuckles deadpans.

* * *

Shadow finds him there, at the entrance of the Eclipse Cannon. Sonic is pleased when the other hedgehog exchanges some banter: It means he isn't as hopeless as Sonic thought he was.

The duo race and exchanged spin dashes, just as Sonic thought they would. He laughs freely as they fight, feeling exhilarated as they continue to exchange blows. As much as he enjoyed spars with Knuckles, this speed is something he'd ever reached in those.

But even if Sonic is excited, exhilarated by the fight, he needs to get to the Ecplise Cannon's opening and throw the fake emerald down. Stopping the destruction of the world is more important than trying to get the other hedgehog to see sense. After--After they beat Eggman again, Sonic would work on that.

When Shadow's rings run out, Sonic takes the final shot. It's all he needs to knock Shadow flat and he wonders if it is really their fight that drained Shadow of his stamina. Sonic shrugs it off and grins down at the other hedgehog. "Guess you lose, huh?"

Shadow glares up at him and grits his teeth as he stands again. Sonic rolls his eyes with a sigh: This guy might just be more stubborn than Knuckles, which is an amazing feat. Sonic slips back into a fighting stance as Shadow dives at him, his spines stiffened up.

Funnily enough, his attempt to attack just seem to shoot himself in the foot--metaphorically--as the fake chaos emerald in Sonic's hand fell down towards the Eclipse Cannon. Shadow's 'No!' is cut off as explosions echo down the shaft they stood together in. The other hedgehog just stares after the emerald to where the explosions echo from.

Sonic laughs. "Well, I guess this is it, huh? Your plan failed, the Eclipse Cannon isn't gonna fire, and the world is safe. Again. Honestly, why the heck are you even working with Eggman? Everyone knows he always loses."

There is no response. For a moment, Sonic hesitates. Should he just go? It doesn't feel right for him to just leave; yet his friends are waiting on him back inside the ARK. For a long moment, Sonic thinks he'd stay there and try to convince Shadow that he should stop working with Eggman. But--No, Sonic straightens, turns, and runs back to the ARK.

He might want his soulmate to actually be his friend but even so. Sonic's wishes have always been second to what he has to do for his friends.

* * *

(Behind him, Shadow smiles. It is razor sharp and malevolent as explosions continue to rock the cannon.

This is not the end.)


	5. shadow III

Shadow crosses his arm as he stares down at the planet. Unlike his 'childhood' it now dominates the view from the ARK's viewing station as the ARK fell from its stable orbit towards the planet. _Good_ , he thinks privately, _This was the Professor's plan all along_. Even if he had never told a soul besides a a set of final whispered instructions into Shadow's ears as GUN dragged him away.

Ha, GUN. They'd called him a monster during that time between escaping ARK--Maria's death--and being frozen in their prison. _If I am a monster then what does that make the ones that created me?_ He smiles, all teeth, at the thought.

The door to the viewing station slides up and his smile vanishes. It's the pink hedgehog girl, the one who had arrived with Sonic and his little...friends. What in Chaos is she doing here? Instead of turning to her, he just watches her from his spot as she moves into the room, clearly not seeing him.

He sees the moment that she realizes he's there. The hedgehog girl flinches and stares at him for a few minutes before she speaks up. "Why are you just standing here?" She asks, her hands clasped in front of her. "Sonic and the others--They're all trying to stop this! Even Eggman is helping."

The doctor, hm? Shadow isn't surprised: The human had gone on about taking over the world. Why would he want to do that Shadow had no clue. After all, the beauty Maria had told him about was nowhere to be found, as far as he had seen. Regardless, it made sense he would try to save the planet. If it was destroyed, there would be nothing to rule.

Well, that and he would be dead.

The pink hedgehog--Rose, isn't it?--puffed out her cheeks at his lack of reply. "You're Sonic's soulmate aren't you?! I--I can tell. His leg...it's black and red now. And I refuse to believe that you're a monster! Why would you two be tied together if you were a monster, a murderer?!"

* * *

_"Maria, what makes someone a monster?"_

_Maria peered at him for a moment before returning to her paper flower crown. "What makes someone a monster..." she murmured to herself. "I guess someone who's a monster is someone who starts to enjoy hurting other people for no other reason than because they liked to hurt them. That the act of hurting pleases them."_

_Shadow frowned as he fiddled with his own paper flower. Is that how it worked? "So if someone kills someone else, but hates every moment of it, does that mean they're not a monster?"_

_"I suppose so." She paused, peering at Shadow's expression. He leaned back as she leaned in close. "Hey, Shadow! I've got a question for you. If one is soulmates with someone that others call a monster, does that make them a monster too?"_

_He started, baffled and little upset by that comment. "Of course not! Why would they be the monster if the other one was the one who does the crimes?"_

_Maria smiled. "I didn't say they did crimes--just that people call them a monster. But Shadow...I don't think you're a monster."_

_Shadow fumbled with his flowers, shocked. "Maria, what--"_

_Alarms echoed in their ears._

* * *

Shadow recoils from the memory, recoils from Rose. She seems startled by the reaction but Shadow could hardly care. Maria had said that hadn't she?

...He supposes he is, technically, a monster then. Because it is hard for him to not enjoy the suffering of those who hurt him so badly.

(And yet again, there is a tase of something like bitter sorrow against his tongue. Like he can't really believe he thinks that. That he feels that.)

"What do you know?" He says, snapping the words like a whip. "GUN--All they've done is hurt people. They killed her! They locked me up just because I was too dangerous! They executed the Professor because he wanted the world to be happy!!"

Rose stares at him before she clasps her hands in front of her. "The people who did that....they're gone, Shadow. The ones who hurt you...who hurt the people you care about. They're all dead. The people down there didn't do anything to you." She looks more sad than angry.

Why isn't she angry?

Shadow spins away from her, his hands clenching at his sides. That's so very easy for her to say. When their families are still alive, hale and happy.

"Shadow...they need everyone's help. Your help, to save everyone! Please..." Rose's voice shakes as if she is about to cry. As if the fact that they would die upsets her.

His shoulders shake as another echo of the past comes to him.

"Shadow....please, protect them. Save them for me." Maria's voice is a whisper in his ears. "That's my final wish for you. To not be the monster you think you are. To be the kind person I know you are."

...Shadow ignores his tears as he stares out at the world below. She never thought he was, is, a monster. Maybe he should believe in Maria's faith, for once.

He sighs sharply. "Where are they."

Rose looks up at him and he watches the way her expression changes. Shock, surprise, a flash of joy or confusion. He can't really tell why she is confused or why she would be but he decides not to think about it too hard.

"The map...It's in the other room, where Eggman fought Sonic." She confesses.

Shadow passes her by. He knows the room she's talking about: It's the very same room that Eggman had tried to kill Sonic in. If he is right, than perhaps they are heading to the core.

But he has to be sure.

* * *

Shadow knows shortcuts towards the core. He doesn't even need to head down the same path the others had. After all, he and Maria used to sneak down all the time until Bio had almost killed her. They hadn’t put a step near it ever since.

He slides down the pipework into the core's inner workings. Bio's roars echoes up towards him. Shadow flinches at the sound and swallows the fear that roars still inspires in him. He can't--let Bio keep scaring him like this.

Sonic and his red mobian friend were both approaching Bio. Neither of them seem to be at all excited about fighting Bio. And...they shouldn't.

"I shouldn't have let it get this far, Maria." Shadow mutters to himself before kicking out from the pipework. He lands expertly behind the mobian duo and walks towards them with a serious frown.

The duo looks back at him, surprised at his arrival. "Shadow...?" Sonic turns to him, his hands carefully raised to defend himself.

"I'll handle this." Shadow says, his voice a whisper as he walks passed Sonic and his friend. He is best suited for fighting Bio, no matter the case.

The red mobian reaches forward--what was his name again?--but Sonic stops him. "Let him handle it, Knuckles," Sonic says confidently, "Let's shut down the core!"

Knuckles scowls but follows Sonic's lead around Bio. Shadow spares them a glance before looking back to Bio. The lizard prototype to the project they were both a part of glowers down at him.

Bio had never been able to speak--it didn't have the vocal chords to allow it. It doesn't stop it from being clearly displeased by Shadow's presence. "This is the end for ARK." Shadow says to it.

It roars back, raising its claws. Shadow braces himself as he feels the cold, yellow coolant spashing against his fur. Yeah, Bio is going to fight.

But so is Shadow.

* * *

Shadow watches dispassionately as Bio lays down its head one last time. It seems it is ready for the end, now, just as Shadow is. He nods to himself: Good. He didn't like fighting Bio.

He turns away and rushes up towards the altar Sonic and Knuckles were at. The latter is chanting something about chaos and servers. The chant is familiar, like he'd read something about it once. He shakes his head. Unimportant.

"Is it done?" Shadow asks.

Sonic turns to him, perking up at the sight. "I think so! Or else we're close." Sonic shrugs, turning his gaze back to Knuckles.

Knuckles is frowning. Shadow frowns too. If they were almost done, as Sonic says, then why does it feel like the ARK was shaking even harder than before? Like it had started to fall faster towards Gaia?

Turning back to them, Knuckles says, "Something's wrong. The chaos emeralds are shut down but we're still moving."

Preparing to snap an 'obviously' at the mobian, Shadow stumbles with a particularly strong jolt instead. Moments after, Bio roars on the top of its lungs. Shadow flinches as he feels the chaos ripple around them. Was that...a Chaos Control?

He thought Bio isn't able to use Chaos? Had the prototype learned, somehow, from their fight? It seems impossible but Shadow had since witnessed stranger things to happen.

"T-That biolizard thing!" The fox's voice comes over a communicator Sonic clutches in his hand. Shadow hadn't noticed it before now. "It's...attached itself to the ARK somehow!"

What? Shadows turns to Sonic and Knuckles. This hadn't been part of his and the Professor's plan! Or at least...this isn't part of the plan Shadow had helped plan. Had the Professor put a back up in place, in the case Shadow turns away from revenge?

It hurts, to think that. But there isn't another possibility: Why would Bio want to crash the ARK unless the Professor had given it that order?

"We have to stop it." Shadow says to the other two.

Sonic doesn't question his change of mind. "Right. I've got an idea on how to do it." He raises a hand and the emeralds come down from their pedestals. They float in a circle around Sonic.

The other hedgehog offers his raised hand to Shadow. He doesn't say a word but he doesn't have to: Shadow, somehow, knows exactly what he needs to do.

Time to prove he isn't a monster.

* * *

Warmth embraces Shadow's limbs. He is falling.

Shadow can see the soft silver-gold of his fur begin fading into black. He's run out of rings. Unfortunate: He might have survived this fall if he hadn't. But he'd rather the one falling is him.

His soulmate is somewhere up by the ARK, miles and miles away from the planet. He is safe from falling--and has enough rings to stay there for a good hour as well. Shadow is content with that fact.

He blinks as white begins to overtake his vision. This is, perhaps, not exactly what Maria wanted. She had wanted him to live and protect--not to die protecting. Yet Shadow can't bring himself to be too upset about breaking this promise.

Shadow had fulfilled enough of the promise that he hopes that Maria won't be mad at him.

Laughing to himself, the sound lost in the buzz of his ears, Shadow closes his eyes. This is truly the end for him.

He's okay with that.


	6. sonic III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of the chapters written in 2020.
> 
> still unbeta`d

Sonic stares at the screen, at Gerald Robotnik. The man is broken--was broken--and it is clear across every expression he makes on the video. There is a moment before the video cuts out and begins again that sets Sonic on edge: Someone screaming.

A message of doom, shots fire, a scream.

Repeat.

It is terrible but Sonic knows who is screaming. It's Shadow, but it seems as if no one else is putting that together yet. That's fine: Sonic isn't keen on bringing that up right now.

Instead, he turns to Tails and Eggman. "Any ideas where the emeralds went?" He asks. They need to cut off power, now, before the ARK gets too close to Gaia.

His question shakes the two inventors from their thoughts. "Y-yeah, I can track them," Tails says, "Just...give me a second."

Sonic patiently waits: This is something he doesn't want to rush. Not Tails, when he's clearly struggling with watching someone be killed, 50 years passed or not. Even if time is of the essence.

He can make up for the seconds lost.

Tails lets out the breath he's been holding. "Okay, Okay. Let me just..." He places his hands on the terminal, studying the screen and ignoring the video. It takes him but a moment to remove the video, muting it so he can access the ARK's maps.

The fox's fingers fly across the keyboard until he makes a sound of triumph. "Found it." His twin tails flicker excitedly. "They've moved to the core. I'm not sure what the best route would be, though..."

"I've got it." Eggman speaks up, his voice gruff.

Amy crosses her arms in front of her. "Oh, so you're going to do something?" She says, her foot tapping furiously on the ARK's metal flooring.

He scowls at her. The scowl makes Sonic study his expression more: He can tell Eggman is feeling betrayed, somehow. Sonic wonders who Gerald Robotnik had been to him, before all of this. Maybe...maybe he had been Eggman's idol.

He might still be his idol but it didn't seem like that is going to stop him from ending Gerald's plans. "Amy," Sonic says, "Let him through."

She turns angry eyes on him. Amy looks...angry and distraught. Like she wants to scream and cry. He knows her well enough that she wouldn't normally react like this. Which means something here is upsetting her. Does she not have faith that they'll dodge destruction as they always did?

Before she can speak, Sonic takes one of her hands. "Amy, you never lose faith we'll make it through. What's so different this time?" He asks.

Amy looks at him and then gently pulls her hand free to turn to the window. She steps away and towards the window. "I can't do anything," She says as Eggman approaches Tails to help him find a route. "I--I haven't really done anything at all, this time around."

Oh. Sonic touches her shoulder as he steps up next to her. He says, "Amy. We wouldn't be here if you hadn't gotten me out on Prison Island." _I'd be dead_ , he doesn't say. Even though its true: If she hadn't shown up with that keycard, Tails would have spent all the time until the bomb went off searching for him.

He takes a deep breath and pats her shoulder again. "Try and convince Shadow to help us." He asks of her. He doesn't know if it'll work--not if he hasn't listened to anyone else. But it was worth a try.

She looks at him opens her mouth and then nods. "Okay, I'll try." Amy says.

* * *

Sonic winces as the yellow coolant soaks into his fur. This might be the only way for him to slide down to the core, but Sonic still finds it disgusting. Coolant or water in his fur? No thanks!

Yet this time around he'll just have to deal with it.

The coolant was rapidly leading him into the route Tails and Eggman had found. It supposedly leads into the core--and also an opening Sonic needs to break to let Knuckles through near the end. After all, they can't truly stop the emeralds without the Master Emerald.

He dives as soon as the coolant river ends, using the edge of the piping to toss himself across the gap and into the hallways they'd been aiming for. More of those Artificial Chaos roam the halls and Sonic merely passes them by. He doesn't have time to fight them.

The further he goes, he notices, the more dusty and dilapidated the ARK looks. Some of the Artificial Chaos even show rust on their metal heads. He wonders if GUN had been up keeping the outer shell but not the innards of this half century old space station.

Sonic slides under a broken door. He kicks off from the ground and uses the leverage he has to spin dash through a pair of rust bucket GUN bots. First he had seen since he had slid down that pipe, Sonic notes.

There are also a couple that are already destroyed. Ones that had seemed to be there for years, judging by their rust. Sonic wonders what, exactly, used to be around the core. Labs? Experimentation rooms?

...Apartments?

He shakes his head and rushes on. It doesn't matter for their goal. Maybe when they were done they could look and explore but with their time limit over their heads? Yeah, Sonic isn't going to take his chances just yet.

Pumping a fist, Sonic jogs forward. He ignores the rest of the robots in his way, focusing on running through the obstacle course of a hallway. It is easily faster not to fight, he finds, than it is to fight this time around.

It is probably because his goal has nothing to do with the robots.

Sonic leaps forward into another pipe and slides down the new coolant river. He wonders why the core needs this much coolant: Chaos energy doesn't actually generate that much heat. And the coolant's color...why yellow?

He spots the half broken door that Knuckles was attempting to open up. Kicking off the bottom of the pope and using the rapids of the coolant, Sonic tosses himself onto the edge of the doorway and helps Knuckles open up a hole for himself.

"Took your time." He tells Sonic.

Sonic smirks back. "Gotta keep you on your toes."

* * *

Chaos surges around them: The power from the emeralds sings in Sonic's veins and he can think is that this feels right. He always liked his super form: There is a reason he used to abuse it, before he met Knuckles.

(Getting punched right out of super form was enough to make him realize maybe he had a problem.)

Yet somehow, he felt more in sync with the chaos then he had ever before. Sonic remembers, suddenly, Tails' old theory that soulmate bonds are born from Chaos itself. That one who has met their soulmate might just be more attuned to chaos than those who had not.

He smiles and shoots a grin at Shadow across from him. The other hedgehog's fur is a silver-y gold, the red stripes stark against that color. Shadow glances back at him and Sonic says, "Ready to go out there?"

"Yes." Shadow replies, his hands glowing a faint red-gold.

Sonic nods and raises his hand, using chaos control to transport them both outside the ARK. Space is simultaneously cold and hot on Sonic's fur as he floats mere miles out from the falling space station. Air isn’t important when you’re channeling some power from the universe, Sonic notes.

The biolizard that Shadow had fought is roaring from its place over the cannon. Its body had fused to the ARK's surface, flesh taunt across the metal the structures. It is...gross and disturbing in ways Chaos hadn't been.

"I'll take this side," Sonic says, "You get the other?"

Shadow nods and flashes across the way. Biolizard--their Final Hazard--sings its head around and screeches soundlessly. Sonic's lips quirk into a smirk: In space, no one can hear you roar in anger, huh?

He lifts the communicator in his hand. "Tails, got any tips?" Sonic hopes the fox can hear him; that the chaos energy protecting him extended to the communicator.

As it buzzes at him, Tails voice coming in clear, Sonic smiles in relief. "Yeah! I think--Go for those boils--" The other's voices echoes over the connection and Sonic shakes his head, hiding the communicator away in the space of chaos where rings went.

"Boils, Shadow!" Sonic calls out, his eyes seeking out the red lumps of flesh across the beast.

Shadow doesn't respond as the two of them rushed towards either side of the Final Hazard. Sonic kicks off one and pushes back as he dodges an orb of red chaos energy zipping passed his head. Behind him, a ring canister is floating, shot out from the ARK.

Why there were ring canisters on the ARK, Sonic doesn't know. He isn't going to complain, however, because there's enough there to keep him going as time ticks by.

It's at the three minute mark, so close to Gaia that Sonic could feel the heat of reentry starting to burn against him, that the Final Hazard mimes its final roar. It seems more like it keens as itsflat head slumps forward. The lights on its broken life support finally go off.

They still need to send the ARK back on course.

"Do you remember where the ARK is supposed to be?" Sonic calls out to Shadow.

The normally dark hedgehog nods and raises his hands. He says, "At the same time as me, now."

Sonic grins and raises his hand up next to Shadow as they float before the ARK. They were slowing it down just through the Chaos power they were using--and Sonic pulls on the feeling of chaos control. He just...needs to follow Shadow's directions.

He does.

The ARK returns to its place.

But Shadow slips away.


	7. an end

Sonic yawns as he leans against the counters of the workshop. His breakfast had, unfortunately, burned. He'd had to go to Station Square to pick something up which is still very awkward. After all, they had all turned a blind eye when GUN had thrown out its claims about Sonic supposedly attacking them.

Granted, at this point Sonic think they might've deserved it. If half the stuff Rouge had found, using her access as 'consultant', is true? Well, it does not paint a good picture about the organization. Even less so of the governments that allowed GUN to do those things to begin with.

He sighs into the coffee Tails had made for him before hiding in the workshop. Sonic would be lying if he said he didn't want to do more about that but...well, the general public apparently still distrusts him more than GUN. Maybe when Rouge goes forward with the things she found...Well.

She already said she isn't going to do that until she can find Shadow.

Once, Sonic knows, they would've just assumed that Shadow had died in that fall. If Shadow's mark isn't still a stark black and red against his leg, Sonic is sure they probably would've mourned and moved on. That's the only true way to stay sane when you lose someone. Mourn, move on, but never forget they existed.

Sonic puts the cup down with a clink. Alright, enough moody stuff! He needs to do something that isn't just moping around! Sonic nods to himself: A run would do him some good, because at least it could get his mind off the past.

"I'm going out for a run!" Sonic yells through the workshop. He slips out the back door, sliding on his running shoes as he goes.

He doesn't hear Tails yelling back to wait, that he found something from Eggman. Sonic doesn't see the letter of challenge from the doctor, clutched in Tails hands. He will, but for now? Just a run with no strings attached.

It is time for another adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this fic....i legitimately forgot this thing existed until recently. I was looking through my works to try and find something that was already done to post. Just while I was working on my other 10+ projects (and original work! I've got a webcomic out now yall. it's called rapier and I post the page updates on my twitter and the tumblr; https://mgrapier.tumblr.com/ )
> 
> so i found this and read it through. There are some things I fixed and others I left be. I wrote the last two chapters and here we are. There isn't much to say except I think this was supposed to be a test of writing in present tense: that's all I can think of, anyway.
> 
> so yeah! not much to say beyond that. hope everyone who reads it through to this point has an awesome day, and thanks for reading!
> 
> edit, 4/16/2020: not much of any edit tbch, just going through and fixing _more_ thing i noticed were a problem. mostly misspellings or missing words. nothing beyond that was changed. a couple of sentences were added as well plus a couple rephrasings. again, i hope everyone has a good time!!


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